Why Blue Jays fans should be excited for Lauer and Scherzer to round out the rotation in 2025

Eric Lauer's career was hanging by a thread. About a year ago he was struggling mightily with Triple-A Indianapolis and after a rough stint, wound up pitching in Korea (KBO). Fast forward to the end of 2025, and you'll find Lauer rounding out the Toronto Blue Jays rotation, alongside his future Hall of Famer counterpart, Max Scherzer.

Lauer has been quietly dominating for the Blue Jays, coming off back-to-back starts where he was in complete command. That included eight strikeouts and one earned run versus the Diamondbacks, paired with five strikeouts and one earned run to the Guardians. His ERA is now down to an impressive 2.21. To say Lauer has been lights out in the month of June would be an understatement, as he’s posted a 1.71 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB over three starts. Although his name doesn't jump off the page to most fans, he has carved out a nice spot for himself in the rotation.

The way Lauer gets it done is simply entertaining to watch, as he doesn’t get much chase, he doesn’t keep the ball on the ground that often, and his fastball averages only 92mph. The way he is able to overwhelm hitters lies in his ability to locate when he wants to.

His elite four-seamer happens to be the most effective pitch on the entire Jays roster up to this point. With a K% of 33.3% and a 39.5% hard hit rate, according to Baseball Savant, his deadly fastball should give hie plenty of runway to stay in the rotation. Although his elite fastball didn't need any reinforcements, he got one, as it hit 94.4mph in the first inning of the Guardians' start, the hardest pitch he's thrown in MLB since 2022.

Scherzer also looked solid in his start against Cleveland, although he was not back to vintage form. He pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits, striking out four, while walking three in the process. Blue Jays fans can breathe a sigh of relief, though, as he got through that outing with an intact thumb. Mad Max let the media know post-game that on the physical front, he felt great, which was proven to fans by his velocity.

No matter who you are or how you look at it, it's pretty cool that Blue Jays fans get to watch Max Scherzer pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays, and when he is fully healthy, the rotation will be immediately strengthened. The Blue Jays do not need him to return to vintage, Detroit Tigers form; they just need him to be a solid contributor.

Blue Jays fans should be thrilled with the results in the Cleveland series. The back-end of the rotation seems to be much more solidified with a healthy Scherzer and if Lauer's breakout season continues, those two pieces could very well help the Jays while making a serious run.